Book Reviews by Ehlen Administration

I'm very excited about my newest score in the in online winnings dept. There's a blog called Leslie Loves Veggies that routinely has multiple giveaways going on all the time. Not sure how Leslie keeps up with it, but I'm sure happy she does! It's one of those blogs that always has upwards of 300 comments on each post because everyone wants to be a winner, so while I do enter periodically I never think I have a chance of winning, given the number of entries. But guess what - I WON! And I won a big one too - well big for our family anyway. We've been considering getting David a bike, since he does so well with the big wheels and tricycles that he plays with at home and at grandmas. Now those of you with small children know that while bikes are great, they are expensive, and particularly when kids are little and growing fast it's hard to keep up with a lot of expensive toys and equipment. That's why I'm so excited to win a Glide Bike! We're getting Dav...

Ok, thanks to the fabulous random.org (my kids are napping so no Thomas lunchbox this time - ok they're supposed to be napping but the thunder may kill that plan) the winner is comment #15 - heartandsoulcooking! I am about to email you, and you have 3 days to verify your information or I will draw another winner. Thanks to all who participated, particularly those of you who had helpful suggestions for my adoption agency. Please do not hesitate to ask me if you have any questions about adoption or want to refer someone to my agency.

As most of you know, I’m an online contest addict. Sweepstakes, blog contests, promotional giveaways, you name it I enter, as long as I don’t have to pay anything or get spammed. (Note to all you contest junkies – opt out of further communication if you don’t want it! Or at least opt out when you get that first email newsletter.) I don’t do too badly either, I’ve won some nice stuff, although as yet no trips or giant cash prizes, not for lack of trying. But still, I enjoy getting freebies in the mail, even when I know they’re coming. So, when I was approached by CSN Stores about hosting a giveaway for a $40 gift certificate to one of their stores, I decided it was time that I give a little back. So without further adieu, I give you my first blog contest! CSN Stores is a group of online department stores that apparently has EVERYTHING you could possibly want. They have furniture like headboards , dining room sets and cribs, they have home décor, housewares, baby and kid stuff, stuff...

I have to admit, the concept of celebrating Earth Day always struck me as sort of ridiculous. I have never been the hug-a-tree type, although I dont' go out of my way to litter or spray cans of aerosol into the air either. Recently, as I am wont to do, I've been trying to figure out what exactly it is that rubs me the wrong way about Earth Day and its various celebrations. While I really despise how everyone tries to shove it in your face and make you feel like some horrible person if you throw a piece of paper in the garbage rather than recycle or forget to turn out a light if you leave the room (and GOD-FORBID you forget to turn out a fluorescent rather than CFL!), and I really get annoyed by all the energy companies pretending to have a conscience apart from turning a profit, which dang it all is what I want to see in my for-profit companies, and it's not simply because I despise the obvious political agenda or valuing EVERYTHING above human life, I've discovered tha...

I won a blog contest to an etsy shop called Precious Accessories that makes pretty hair bows for little girls, and when they came in the mail Rachelle decided that if one made her look "sooooo pretty!" all of them would make her look super pretty! Hard to argue with that logic, after all.

Ok, so I've decided to do something about my little cleaning hiccup. Maybe. As you know, I am not the best housekeeper. In fact, I'm a pretty terrible housekeeper. Granted, I have two very high maintenance children who cannot be more than 2 feet away from me at all times, which makes it difficult to do normal things like: unload the dishwasher (too much "help" and attempts to crawl into the dishwasher), vacuum the floor (way too loud, although we're getting better at this), use any spray bottle or chemical of any kind (goes right in the mouth and possibly sprayed in the eyes if I'm not quick enough on the draw) and God forbid I cook anything that involves knives or heat. So I checked out the FlyLady website, as I'd heard good things about it, and I do like the style - little bits at a time keep it all more manageable. I also figured I'd be more inclined to follow a housekeeping plan that I did not create, as I'm pretty good at justifying and talkin...